Turin unveils new direction under Moretti

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The Turin Film Festival unveiled its new look here Tuesday under the stewardship of director Nanni Moretti.

The Alpine city's event, which has come under pressure to redefine itself following the addition of the Rome Film Festival to Italy's cinema calendar, is aiming to discover and promote emerging film talents.

"We'd like to strengthen and give more prominence to premieres," said incoming deputy director Emanuela Martini, who will be assisting Moretti in selecting titles for the 25th edition of Turin Film Festival, which takes place Nov. 23-Dec. 1. "We'd like to convince independent producers that Turin will be a better place to present films," she said.

Turin's main competition will be reserved for first, second and third films. An out-of-competition section will present other films not yet released in Italy, in addition to previews. The event has added a new documentary section called Italiana.doc, while the section for short films becomes a showcase for Italian-only films rather than international titles. The No Standard section will present films and videos outside standard format.

Turin organizers admit that the changing face of the Italian calendar has prompted changes. "Rome is posing a bit of a problem, they have a lot of money," said Martini, who will be giving up her post as head of the Bergamo Film Meeting after the upcoming edition next month. Turin's budget is expected to remain relatively unchanged at about €2.5 million, roughly a quarter of the Rome event.

Moretti caused a stir after accepting the directorship of Turin in late December then resigning it two days later amid tensions with the fest's board. He finally re-accepted the post after board member Gianni Rondolino resigned.

The director of Palme d'Or winner "The Son's Room" addressed those gathered in Berlin on Tuesday via a poor telephone link, speaking first in German, then Italian to praise the new team for the Turin event.

The new profile was presented at a gastronomic lunch in Berlin's Marriott Hotel co-hosted by the Turin/Piemonte Film Commission. The latter body announced details of its new subsidy fund, which will see €25 million made available, with the regional government taking a co-production stake in titles, the first time an Italian subsidy organization has gone this route.